shah82 wrote:This is just tea, there's a lot of it out there. Your derail is exactly what it is, even if you think people like me or MarshalN are judgmental snobs, or something.

I don't. Why should I? If you ment I do, maybe you better put your words to your own mouth instead?

Enlighten me, what's my derail? "Exactly what it is" - I'm not sure it is explanatory for me enough.

shah82 wrote: What you've been saying is what every cost-conscious n00b has been saying since 2006. Famous XX cheap brand is better than Famous XX expensive brand. That usually does not turn out to be true, because they can't tell what brand is cheap for a reason and why another brand is expensive or not expensive. In a tangentially unrelated thread.

Where exactly did I say that some cheap brand is better than an expensive one?

I think value is a more important consideration than "cheap" vs. "expensive". I don't mind buying an expensive tea or a cheap tea, as long as they are a good value for the money. The problems come when the value isn't there -- an expensive tea that's not good (or a mis-represented tea, where you're paying for tea from a particular region but not actually getting it), a moderately priced tea that's not any better than a cheaper one, a cheap tea that is subpar, etc.

I've only tried a few Changtai teas, and wasn't personally blown away by them. Also, they're a bit hyped up, so may not represent the best value.

There may be a few high-rollers who can drink the nicest, most expensive teas all the time, but most of us don't have that luxury.

shah82 wrote:JakubT, I don't have to be fair to a tea. It's perfectly okay for me to read your review of that tea and go, yeah, the usual for the area, age, and brand. I don't have to taste every single thing by every single brand to be fair, even if I've already seen a review for one tea that doesn't make me want to go out and try it.. That's essentially abusive and bullying logic.

I'm not sure I follow you here. You say that you don't have to be fair, then start saying something pretty irrational about abusive and bullying logic. What exactly is abusive and bullying?

Guessing what you ment - I did not say you have to try that tea. If you want to compare it to some other tea, it might be a good idea though.

I feel like I was brought up here since I mentioned Changtai, and someone agreed with me then the battle goes. I didn't know someone who differs another opinion could cause sweeping statements like those.

My buddy who's in tea biz was in a line who first introduced Changtai to Korea, so getting them was easy and good priced, I didn't search for others because I felt ok, and factories who offer Yiwu are limited. (except for custom-made)..didn't know Changtai was known for over-pricing tho.

It's a matter of preference, my reason for liking their tea is clean feel and mildness..someone mentioned it's too mild, that's exactly what I like about Changtai and other Yiwu like Mahei. Meanwhile there are bunch of harshness from factory-Taidi or pleasant Qi from the west or the north.

Taiwanese like small Yixings and delicate Gu Jing-zhou while mainlanders like huge Yixings and Qi-displaying Wang Yin-chun or Shao Da-heng..who can tell who's over the other? I guess no one can..fortunate is the one who likes both.

However, when one reads zhizheng's post on the Nannuo Tea Factory, one sees that the area was accessible and in use for making green and black tea, at least. There were also peeps like the folks behind the original DingXing mark who were Hui and were all over the back end of Yunnan and Myanmar. There's even a crisis over such folks known as the Rohingyas. How much do you want to bet many of those old mushrooms were made with Western Banna leaves?

Sung8891, what did Dengshihai mention about Menghzhe, NanZhou, Nannuo during the first half and a bit of the 20th century?

shah82 wrote:However, when one reads zhizheng's post on the Nannuo Tea Factory, one sees that the area was accessible and in use for making green and black tea, at least. There were also peeps like the folks behind the original DingXing mark who were Hui and were all over the back end of Yunnan and Myanmar. There's even a crisis over such folks known as the Rohingyas. How much do you want to bet many of those old mushrooms were made with Western Banna leaves?

Sung8891, what did Dengshihai mention about Menghzhe, NanZhou, Nannuo during the first half and a bit of the 20th century?

And the old mushrooms, sorry to say, are much crappier. I've had them.

Most of Hao-ji vintage Pus used Yiwu, early, small-leaf-varieties so many stems in it (may I link to Changtai or others Yiwu with stems?), because on big-leaf-varieties the leaves grows before the stems so can't see the stems.

Coming to Yin-ji period, they switched to Menghai, including Nannuo.

So Yiwu has many small-leaf-varities (小叶种）, no wonder they are plain and mild, and in Mahei there are hardly seen Gu-cha-shu left there..GFZ has some wild trees..Puerh is a ship of jewels..I've never seen such tea which I can't get a glimpse of enlightenment after drinking almost everyday for yrs

I remember Deng Shi-hai is pretty much forgotten recently..in Korea Jiang Yu-fa was famous for dissing him.